Miami beat Indiana in a thrilling seven-game Eastern Conference finals series last year en route to a second straight NBA championship.

Dominant through the season's first half, the Pacers lost 13 of their final 23 regular-season games. They won the final two of a seven-game first-round series to defeat the Atlanta Hawks. Through the struggles, there were turmoil and apparent dysfunction centering around players like Lance Stephenson and Roy Hibbert.

The Heat also limped to the regular-season finish line by going 11-14 in their final 25 games. But Miami then swept Charlotte in the postseason's first round before beating Brooklyn in five games of the conference semifinals.

Miami and Indiana split four regular-season meetings in 2013-14, with the home team prevailing each time.

The Pacers (56-26) finished two games ahead of the Heat (54-28) in the race for Eastern Conference top seed.